Walk With Me
by arysa13
Summary: Prompt: Bellamy works at safe walk and Clarke keeps falling asleep studying. And is the last one to leave the library every night!


Campus is pretty dead after midnight on week nights. Most people have given up studying, and the library shuts at midnight anyway. Anyone who's going out or staying up to party is unlikely to be alone, so it's rare for someone to call up the security office for a safe walk. Usually Bellamy and Raven and whoever else is working that night just hang out in the security office once midnight passes, waiting for their shift to end at two.

It's quarter after twelve on a Tuesday night and the phone startles the four of them from their lazy conversation. The receptionist has gone home and it's just Bellamy, Raven, Murphy and Harper, plus an _actual_ security guard, manning the office.

"Shotty not," Murphy says, and Bellamy notices Raven roll her eyes.

"This is what you get paid to do, Murphy," she reminds him.

"You also get paid so how about you get off your ass and do your job," Murphy points out while Harper answers the phone. Raven just scoffs, unable to come up with a suitable comeback.

"There's a girl at the library that needs someone to walk her back to her dorm," Harper says, putting the phone down.

"Well I guess since _Murphy_ is a _terrible person_ you and I will go," Raven says to Bellamy.

"It _is_ our job too," Bellamy can't help but tease as he gets up and follows Raven out into the cool night air.

"Don't get murdered!" Murphy yells after them.

The girl is waiting for them outside the library, lit up by the single florescent light fixed to the wall above her. She's got a backpack full of books slung over one shoulder, plus another monstrous book in her hands, and her laptop bag over the other shoulder. She's not that big and Bellamy is kind of worried she's going to collapse from all that weight she's carrying around.

"You're supposed to wait inside the building," Bellamy tells her when they reach her.

"They kicked me out," she replies. "The library closes at twelve. I kind of… fell asleep. The librarian who found me was pretty annoyed."

"Still, they shouldn't make you wait out here alone in the dark in the middle of the night," Bellamy huffs. The girl shrugs as best she can with the bags weighing down her shoulders.

"Come on," Raven says. "Let's get you back to your dorm. You two can trash talk the librarian on the way. Which dorms do you live in?"

"Ogden Hall," the girl replies, and Raven nods and begins to lead the way.

"Here, let me take something," Bellamy offers as he follows after Raven, their charge walking beside him. "I'm Bellamy, by the way. That's Raven. We're supposed to introduce ourselves first, sorry."

"Clarke," she smiles, and then winces slightly as she removes the backpack from her shoulder to hand over to Bellamy.

"Christ," Bellamy says as he takes the bag. "Have you been carrying this around all semester? How are you not a hunchback by now?"

"I can take it back if it's too heavy for you," she smirks and Bellamy can't help but grin.

"Show off," he teases and Clarke laughs, ducking her head.

"I'm pre med," she tells him. "The books are kind of a necessity, unfortunately."

"I bet they didn't tell you you'd also need to be a body builder in order to carry them around," Bellamy jokes.

"I don't know which is worse, the amount I have to carry around or how much they cost me," Clarke says wryly.

"In a few years you'll have forgotten all about the money, but your body will be forever mangled by the weight of the books you had to carry," Bellamy says dramatically. "Which would be a shame," he adds without thinking.

"Is that so?" Clarke raises an eyebrow at him and Bellamy flushes, realising what he's said.

"I mean, it would be a shame for you because it would be more difficult to do your job," he hurries to clarify. Which doesn't really make sense, but it's better than what he actually meant. He's supposed to be walking her home safely not being creepy and making her uncomfortable. That would be the exact opposite of his job description.

Clarke gives him a knowing look and he tries to look innocent.

"Maybe I should take my bag back then," Clarke muses. "It's probably too late for me, but we can probably still save your body."

"Trust me, it's worth saving," Raven cuts in from a couple of steps ahead, reminding the two of them that she's there. Clarke looks alarmed for a moment.

"Oh, are you two…" she starts, looking between Bellamy and Raven.

"No," Bellamy says quickly. "She's only seen my body once," he explains, though he's not _entirely_ sure why he feels the need to. "Obviously I left an impression," he says, trying to find his footing again. Clarke looks at him in amusement and he can't tell if he's succeeded or if she's just laughing at his apparent inability to flirt.

"I mean, the body was good but the sex was only so-so," Raven says, turning back to grin at him impishly. Bellamy rolls his eyes. "We're here!" Raven announces, not giving him a chance to defend himself about the bad sex, which is probably a good thing because he most likely would have just ended up with his foot in his mouth.

"Well, thanks guys," Clarke says, taking her bag back from Bellamy and fishing for her keys.

"Night, Clarke," Bellamy says and Clarke nods with a smile as she walks into the dorm hall. Bellamy watches her until she's out of sight.

"Pathetic," Raven mutters and Bellamy turns to her.

"What?" he says defensively as the two of them start to make their way back to the security office.

"I can't believe you didn't even ask her for her number," Raven shakes her head.

"Pretty sure the last thing she wanted was some guy hitting on her," Bellamy huffs.

"Didn't seem to stop you," Raven points out. "But she was definitely flirting back."

"It was only flirting, Raven," Bellamy sighs. "It didn't mean anything."

"You keep telling yourself that."

* * *

Bellamy does keep telling himself that, for all the use it is. It's dumb because he knew her for all of ten minutes and now he can't stop thinking about her. But he has no way of contacting her outside of showing up outside her dorm building, which is definitely creepy and kind of stalkerish, so it's definitely out of the question.

So he kind of just hopes he'll bump into her on campus, or she'll call safe walk again while he's working. It could happen, right?

Except he doesn't have another shift until the following week, and the campus is pretty big and there are a lot of people that go there, so seeing her is an unlikely event. Some delusional part of him still holds out hope.

It's nearing midnight on his next shift, another Tuesday and he's trying not to seem antsy, but every time the phone rings he's hoping it's Clarke. So Raven may have been slightly right. He's totally pathetic.

"We should go out and patrol the campus," he suggests at a little after twelve.

"Why?" Raven says, sounding almost disgusted. "We never do that."

"I'm bored. Someone might need our help that doesn't know to call," he shrugs. Raven seems to be buying it.

"Fine," she sighs.

"Let's start near the library."

"You're so transparent."

She follows him anyway, probably more out of curiosity than anything else, and they make their way to the library.

"Are you going to ask her out this time?" Raven asks.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

Clarke isn't waiting out the front of the library this time, and obviously it was a long shot, but he can't help but feel disappointed.

"I mean, you know where she lives," Raven points out. "You could just go there."

"I don't want to seem like a stalker," Bellamy tells her.

"Because going to the library because you think she might be there is totally not something a stalker would do," Raven snorts.

"It's different," he insists. They're about to head back to the security office when the library door opens and Clarke is ushered out by a stern looking librarian.

"You can't keep doing this," the librarian huffs. "The library shuts at midnight!"

"I'm sorry, okay?" Clarke says, sounding more irritated that apologetic, but the library lady just makes a sound of exasperation before shutting the doors and locking them behind her.

"Hey," Bellamy says, feeling an idiotic grin creep over his face. Clarke looks up, noticing him for the first time, and he feels a tug in his stomach when she smiles back at him.

"Hey," she says. "I fell asleep again. I was just about to call."

"We were just in the area," Bellamy tells her. "Lucky, I guess." Raven snorts but disguises it as a cough.

"Oh, I thought maybe someone might have…" Clarke trails off, embarrassed, for what reason Bellamy can't fathom. "Never mind. Walk me home?"

"Why am I even here?" Raven mutters, but Bellamy thinks only he hears her.

"It's what I'm here for," he says to Clarke, taking her backpack from her again. "So, do you make a habit of falling asleep in the library?" he teases as he walks beside her in the direction of her dorm, Raven trailing behind them this time.

"The couches in there are more comfortable than the bed in my dorm," Clarke jokes.

"You should take a break from studying once in a while," Bellamy admonishes lightly. "Have some fun."

"I have fun," Clarke says defensively.

"Oh yeah?" Bellamy smirks. "When was the last time you went out with your friends?" Clarke screws up her face and Bellamy laughs. "Just as I thought."

"Okay, Mr. Fun Guy, what would you suggest?" Clarke challenges.

"Mr. Fun Guy? Really?" Bellamy asks in amusement.

"Come on!" Clarke prods him. "What should I do to have fun?" Bellamy thinks for a moment. A thousand responses fly through his head, from the silly to the dirty, but all involving him.

"Crossword puzzles," he says finally and Clarke gives him a look of disdain.

"That's the best you've got?"

"They don't call me Mr. Fun Guy for nothing," he grins Clarke rolls her eyes.

"You're an idiot," she says fondly, arriving outside her dorm.

"Well, here you are. Safe and sound," Bellamy says, and Clarke nods absently.

"So, um…" she starts, hesitating. He raises his eyebrows at her expectantly. "Goodnight, I guess."

"Goodnight, Clarke." She smiles, almost looks a little sad, before turning and walking into her dorm building.

"Crossword puzzles," Raven says in disbelief.

"What?"

"That was the perfect opportunity to ask her out. She clearly wanted you to. If I have to listen to your stupid flirting you could at least actually try to get her to go out with you," Raven huffs. "What is wrong with you?"

"I honestly have no idea," Bellamy groans.

* * *

That's it then, he's pretty sure. He's blown it twice, and he's probably not likely to get another chance unless he _actually_ starts stalking her, and he's not quite that crazy.

He feels stupid, because it should have been so easy to ask her out, the opportunity was right there. Yet he couldn't shake the feeling that maybe she was just being nice and he was mistaking it for flirting. What kind of safe walker would he be if he asked her out when she didn't want him to? Then maybe she'd feel uncomfortable and stop calling the service and then he'd feel responsible if she got mugged on campus in the middle of the night or something.

He doesn't even really know her, he knows that, so he feels like he should have any real sense of loss, and yet there's a dull longing in his chest that has something to do with the way her eyes kind of twinkle when she smiles. He'll just have to make peace with the fact that he'll never even really get to know her.

He has another shift at safe walk that Thursday, but he doesn't hold out any real hope of seeing Clarke. Even if he did see her he knows he probably wouldn't ask her out. Not without some definite confirmation that she liked him back.

The phone rings at exactly midnight and Miller answers it.

"Yeah, he's here," Miller says to the person on the other end, glancing at Bellamy. Bellamy frowns at him in confusion. "I'll send him right away," Miller says before hanging up the phone.

"Your girlfriend," Miller says with a smirk.

"Huh?" Bellamy grunts, confused. Last he checked he definitely didn't have a girlfriend.

"Clarke someone," Miller tells him, and Bellamy glances at Raven accusingly. Has she been gossiping about him? Raven shakes her head and shrugs in confusion. "She called here a couple times last week," Miller continues, unaware of the exchange between Bellamy and Raven. "Asking if you were working."

"She did?"

"Yeah, I figured you guys were dating or something," Miller shrugs. "Or is she just a stalker?"

"She's not a stalker," Bellamy says, hope blooming in his chest. "Come on, Raven."

"Ugh, I don't want to witness this," she screws up her nose.

"I promise I won't chicken out this time," Bellamy assures her.

"If you don't ask her out I'm doing it for you," Raven warns him, and Bellamy just grins.

"Noted."

There's an extra skip in his step as they head towards the library and Raven has to practically run to keep up. Clarke is waiting out the front again and she smiles when Bellamy and Raven approach.

"We seriously need to get that librarian fired," Bellamy shakes his head in disapproval.

"I didn't even fall asleep this time!" Clarke says in mock outrage. Bellamy takes her backpack from her and they start towards the dorms.

"So, I hear you've been asking for me," Bellamy says cautiously, watching her from the corner of his eye.

"They told you about that, huh?" she says, turning a little pink. It's endearing really, and Bellamy is pretty sure now that she likes him too.

"Would it make you feel any better if I spent the whole week hoping I'd somehow run into you?" he laughs.

"Maybe a little," Clarke smiles.

"I thought of some things we can do to help you have fun," Bellamy says nonchalantly.

"We, huh?" Clarke says, catching the word he was trying most to be casual about.

"I mean, if you want to," he shrugs.

"As long as it's not crossword puzzles," she teases and Bellamy rolls his eyes.

"I'll admit, Mr. Fun Guy was not at the top of his game the other night," Bellamy grimaces. "But trust me, I know plenty of fun things we can do."

"Looking forward to it," Clarke says, looking like she's trying not to laugh. They arrive at her dorm once again and this time he's pretty sure he's going to see her again. "Here, give me your phone so I can give you my number," Clarke says, and Bellamy passes her his phone. She types in her number and hands it back. "Make sure you call me."

"Count on it," Bellamy grins. He hesitates then, kind of wants to kiss her a little bit, but he holds back. "Goodnight, Clarke." Clarke leans up and presses her lips to his cheek.

"Goodnight, Bellamy," she whispers in his hear before turning to go. She glances back once as she walks inside, and Bellamy can still feel his cheek tingling where she kissed him.

"Disgusting," says Raven.


End file.
